Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail
Breakout: Part 3
The mayor had led Edmond and Harry down a dark hallway beneath the courthouse. The dank air and cold walls of stone seemed dungeon-like to Edmond, who stayed near the light made by the mayor's torch. Being in such a place had sapped the tiredness out of his body, suddenly wary of their surroundings, despite the circumstances.
"What is this place?" Harry asked, curious as to how a town like this would have such an elaborate underground passageway. His armor was now resting outside of the courthouse thanks to the help of both Edmond and the mayor, now only his jeans, plain blue shirt and tennis shoes showed.
"These are the catacombs of Ginville, a closely guarded secret of the village." the mayor responded, as if this was all particularly normal. Harry took note of the overly casual response, but said nothing else.
"This is certainly deep down." Harry remarked "I believe we've even passed below the sewage system." He said, looking at the ceiling, and how it was considerably damper than the floor they were stepping upon, plus the faint foul smell around them.
"Correct indeed." the mayor replied "These catacombs were the first thing built here, as a fortress of sorts. The village and it's sewage system were all constructed afterwards."
"Really?" Edmond asked "Why on earth would you build a tomb before the village that would occupy it. Seems a bit morbid doesn't it?" Edmond's question caused Harry to wonder about that himself, but the mayor merely released a quiet sigh before speaking.
"It didn't always used to be catacombs, but instead it was used as public shelter and storage for a long time. It was repurposed around a hundred years ago, but the structure itself is as old as the town." The mayor's reply made both Harry and Edmond look at each other for a moment before focusing back ahead.
"So... was it built when the first settlers arrived? Or did it exist beforehand?" Harry inquired, the history behind the structure around them becoming more intriguing the more they spoke of it.
"Not settlers as far as we know. We honestly aren't sure why they built this place in such a manner." This response confused Harry and Edmond even more "We believe that in the earliest days of whatever this settlement might have been called, it had to deal with a lot of bad weather, and as such, basically built a bunker that they could take shelter in. No one is entirely sure about that though, as many of the oldest documents about the town were lost in a fire some two hundred years ago."
"Really? And so what? Everyone assumed this place was used for storage?" Harry asked, now somewhat cautious of this place "Are you sure that's all there is to it?."
The mayor didn't seem as if he wanted to answer that question "I'm afraid I can't tell you much else, everyone at the time already knew that the catacombs were used for storage, but as for what had already been stored within, they had no idea what it all could be. Only the mayor, Quartermaster, and the like were privy to that information, and it's recorded that they died in that very same blaze." He suddenly stopped walking, then turned to Edmond and Harry, a bleak expression on his face. "But that is all in the past now. I admit, I have made many mistakes in my life while leading this village, pulling you two into our problems was only one of the more recent ones." the two friends stared at the mayor for a moment, the torchlight flickering almost as if it was threatening to go out at times. "I want you to understand that the village is grateful for all that you did for us."
Edmond scratched the back of his head "To be honest sir, I'm not really certain we really deserve any reward," Edmond stated matter of factly "it kind of felt like we caused more trouble than we were worth."
"Nonsense," the mayor stated, now continuing to walk down the corridor "If anything I am to blame. I should have called a guild such as Fairy Tail to come deal with our problem from the start, but I was afraid someone might try and stick their nose where it otherwise shouldn't be. I dragged you into the mess I made, I should repay you for what you've endured, both of you."
"I appreciate that." Harry began hesitantly, still unsure how to take all this new information about Ginville and its history. "But are you sure this is alright? What if one of these objects that we pick out is dangerous or is something the village has been guarding?" his question gave the mayor pause as he thought about the question.
"I believe that will be a non issue. I've been down here plenty of times, but none of the items we hold here should be capable of harming any of us." He said with a smile, finally coming to a stop before a large stone door. The ancient looking portal appeared to have strange designs lining it's surface, the actual doors having no handles, but instead having a long rectangular indentions on both sides.
"So. Everything that's beyond this door…" Harry began again, his tone still serious, but this time taking a darker tone. "Is something worth hiring an assassin over?" He asked, having remembered the brief conversation the mayor had with Erigor before he was captured. The Over-Enchant wizard could only assume that this 'vault' was what had been leaked to the subject of the assassination attempt. The Mayor froze, as did Edmond, both of them having forgotten about Erigor's talk with the town's elected official.
"I… almost forgot about that." Edmond said, crossing his arms and glaring at the back of the mayor's head. "If nothing in here can harm us and isn't 'that special' then why go through that trouble?" The mayor sighed and turned around to face the two.
"Because the information that the town has this is somewhat of a well known secret within the town itself. It's one thing for a normal person to know about its existence, but another for a powerful criminal or dark guild to know about it. It's true that nothing in here is powerful or revolutionary to our knowledge, but it's existence has been a guarded secret for generations. Which is why the town mostly keeps quiet about the tomb, to protect the community as a whole from threat." The mayor explained, his defense makings sense to Harry, but the novice mage still couldn't help but think that requesting assassination against someone who found out its precious secret is a step too far.
"I don't have a place to judge, but I believe that hiring Erigor was a wrong move." Harry stated simply, turning his gaze from the mayor to the door. The mayor looked at him for a second, along with Edmond as they both looked at Harry with incredulous looks, the sheer obviousness of the statement shocking both of them.
"Well uh, yea." Edmond said, scratching the back of his head. "Couldn't you have… y'know, made a fake tomb or something somewhere else?" The mayor's eyes widened, as he had not thought of that idea.
"Perhaps, but if they knew about it and were persistent enough, they'd find this one eventually." Harry said, walking up to the door, a curious expression on his face.
"Correct. Either that, or destroy the town after finding the fake tomb or something else similar." The mayor said, a grim tone in his voice. Moving on from the conversation, he made a motion in front of the door and spoke quietly into the door, and a moment later, the two stone doors slid apart, allowing Harry and Edmond to see inside. The first thing they noticed was the large pile of loose clothes all bundled up near the entrance, oddly lacking any dust or dirt. The second thing they noticed was a faded tapestry rolled up alongside the clothes, something that screamed to them both, 'magic carpet'.
Along the walls of the room were weapon racks that held a variety of different types of weapons, all of them bearing unique shapes and colors, but still being recognizable as swords, axes, polearms, and the like. The back of the room had what appeared to be several paintings stacked against each other, as well as a large rectangular shape covered by a brown tarp. There were several tables that had various nick-nak looking items piled on them, often with no discernable pattern. The largest table in the room was piled high with crystals that Harry recognized as Lacrimas given their identical colors. But they were all unique in shape and size with the exception of many spherical lacrima that were resting in a large basket below the table.
Edmond gasped slightly at the sight before him, as well as the feeling of being surrounded by magical signatures. It was hard to explain, but when he focused, he could barely feel the different magic types and effects from the items in the room. He would have no chance in trying to discern what they could do, but he could still tell everything inside of this room was magical to one degree or another.
"Quite the sight isn't it?" He asked rhetorically, to which both Harry and Edmond nodded. "Feel free to look around before you decide on your prize. As I stated before though, I can only allow you to take one" The mayor reiterated, Edmond nodding as he looked around, walking between various tables full of different magical items, all of their different uses unknown to the man.
The two mages walked forward into the room, being careful to not make a sound. As to the reasoning for their silence, they weren't completely sure. Perhaps the idea of waking the dead in the catacombs had crossed their minds passively.
The two started each on a different table, observing different items of interesting magical property. Harry immediately noticed that there were several swords lying about, each in different shapes and sizes, no two being similar.
Edmond, on the other hand, found himself what he guessed was the "fashion" section, as there were many different items of jewelry and light garments. He felt that these gave off a unique magical "scent" as he called it. He wondered just how strong these various trinkets might be.
"Please take your time," the mayor instructed "I am in no rush as it were, so make sure that whichever piece you chose is the right one."
"Thank you for this," Harry asked. He then noticed something a little odd about the mayor. It almost looked as if he didn't really want to enter the room, like he was staying just outside. He decided to keep a watchful eye on the mayor as he looked for his gift of choice.
Several minutes passed as they rummaged through all kinds of magical trinkets, some glowing, some shiny, some worn, some tattered. But then while he was looking through a random pile of junk as it seemed, Harry heard somebody say "over here." Harry looked towards Edmond "You say something?" Edmond looked up from where he was sorting through some stuff, but merely shrugged as he shook his head.
Right before he returned to the pile of random junk he was going through, he took notice of a large rectangle with a brown cloth over it. It immediately caught his interest as he stood up and walked towards it. "Any idea what's under this?" Harry asked the mayor.
"I'll be honest, I couldn't say really." was the mayor's simple response.
Harry shrugged. Brown tarp over some kind of magic box in the middle of an ancient catacomb surrounded by loads of magical items. Guess I'll be the first to find out. Harry reached up and pulled down the brown tarp. He coughed a little as the dust filled the air.
As the tarp collapsed on the ground, Harry witnessed before him a large set of regal looking knight armor. However its overall shape was the only part about it that looked regal, as the entire surface of the armor was covered in countless small intricate designs that had no sense or pattern to them. Many of the patterns however, were rather disturbing upon inspection, many of them depicting crude or loosely designed images of human faces in terror, animals such as Lions and Panthers eating beings that looked very much like humans, swords covered in blood, suns that looked far more violent than often represented, and much more. The actual helmet was closed, covering the occupant's face if there was one. The mask of the helmet itself was covered in a design reminiscent of a fanged monster, which Harry was focused on the most. Every design was drawn red against the silver armor beneath, every plate looking as clean as the day the armor was likely made. As Harry's eyes scanned the rest of the armor, he saw that the hands were positioned over a large sword, one that looked extremely out of place with the armor it was kept with.
The sword was jagged and curved in design, not unlike a scimitar, and was a solid black with red edges and a red handle. Every part of the sword looked very dangerous and rather unwieldy. The upper portion of the blade was much wider than the base, with a large spike formed from the edged blade that curved downwards slightly, almost as if it was a different blade that had been attached or fused to the existing sword. The whole look of the sword and armor made a chill go down Harry's spine.
"Whatcha got there?" Edmond asked, glancing over to see that the tarp of the large glass box had been removed, curiosity in his eyes.
"A creepy set of armor." Harry responded, grabbing the tarp that had dropped before. "And nothing that we want to mess with." He said with a stern expression, draping the tarp back over the glass case. As he did however, his hand brushed against the glass, a sudden electrical shock going through his arm, the small pain feelings as if something had been taken from him. Similar to a static jolt, but different. As the tarp reached the ground, now covering the box completely, Harry's mind stirred as the word 'death' seemed to suddenly go through it. He stared at the now completely covered box with the armor inside, not certain if that was his active imagination and paranoia, or was the actual armor itself.
"Something wrong?" Edmond asked Harry as he stared at the box.
Harry snapped out of his slight trance "No. No nothing at all." he responded. He looked around the room, his eyes catching something else that seemed interesting.
Edmond however was looking for something that could complete his 'look' he was currently wearing some basic clothes that consisted of a T-shirt, jeans, his belt, and of course, the black leather duster he had bought, the only really unique piece of clothing on his person. He knew he didn't need to stand out to be a good mage, but something about thinking about all of the unique outfits within fairy tail made him want to make his own, or at least make him a bit more recognizable. His current duster was now rather worn, with holes, burn marks, and even some frayed edges all courtesy of the recent battle. It wasn't completely destroyed, but it was far from new condition. He eyed a few articles of clothing, all of which had gems around certain parts, which he assumed were lacrima, but colored to compliment the clothing in question. None of these articles of clothing however truly suited him, all of them being far too bright, and some even looking straight up tacky.
"Probably not going to find anything permanent here." Edmond said to himself, picking up a rather garish looking sweater vest, that was a solid bright yellow. He placed the vest back down and saw the table that had a large collection of nick-nacks. He approached it, the faint magic he could feel from the items becoming stronger, with one in particular feeling very familiar. He searched around, going through snowglobes, books, vases, a lamp that looked suspiciously arabic, and even a silver celestial spirit key, he found the magic item that seemed to call to him. It appeared to be a broach for a jacket or hat, and it depicted a constellation that Edmond had never seen before. He wasn't much of an astronomer, but he was fairly certain that the star pattern depicted by the small bauble did not exist. Upon picking up the broach, Edmond felt something strange, as if some kind of familiar, yet unusual magic flowed within it. It almost seemed to call to him, although he couldn't imagine for what reason that might be.
"Well, I guess I've picked out what I want." Edmond said, walking back to the entrance where the mayor was waiting. The mayor observed the broach on Edmond's lapel, the older man giving the mage a nod of approval.
"It certainly looks like a fine piece, if that is indeed what you've decided on." The mayor started "although, are you sure that's all you want?" The small artifact was certainly something magical, but given its size, the mayor reasoned that giving away a second small piece wouldn't be of any harm.
Edmond nodded as he pat the broach, knocking some dust off his duster "Yep. I can't really say why for certain, but I feel like this little trinket will come in handy at some point." Harry at that point had walked up, still looking around, but seemed ready to speak to the mayor.
"And what about you Mr. Harry? Found anything that piques your interest?" Harry looked around the room for a second more, then to the pile of lacrimas in the corner.
"What about those?" he asked, curious if the mayor would let him take one of them.
The mayor hummed quietly, putting his finger up to his chin as he thought. "I could probably let all of those go if you wanted." the mayor stated, shocking Harry somewhat "They aren't doing anything here besides collecting dust I believe. Not really doing anybody any good that way."
"What are they doing here then?" Harry asked curiously, looking at the Lacrima, their dull color indicating they were barely charged, if at all.
"Not sure, as far as I know they were here before a lot of the older records were lost. They're no different from modern lacrima that I know of, in fact, they're probably a bit on the faulty side considering their age." The Mayor said, looking over at the lacrima. "Other than that, They're just standard Lacrima that anyone would have in a household appliance, with the exception that most of these are a bit bigger than most.
"Well then I'll take 'em." Harry said with a smile, thankful for the mayors generosity. He nodded, a small smile on his face in being able to satisfy the novice mage. "Although… I may need help getting all these out of here." Harry said a bit sheepishly, glancing over at the pile of Lacrima.
"I can help you with that, as well as Mr Edmond here, but I'm afraid I can't involve any of the other villagers with our little excursion tonight. I do hope you both understand that." He said, and both wizards nodded. "Good! Right then, why don't we start hauling these off…" He said, going over to the table of Lacrimas and grabbing a large rough-spun sack, beginning to fill it up with Lacrima. Harry and Edmond both sound sacks of similar size and began to fill them up as well.
The Lacrimas were eventually deposited on the old couch within the living room of the run down house that Edmond and Harry were calling home. The mayor had helped a great deal, and even though all three bags they had carried were heavy, they did not require a second trip to get them all.
"Well… that's done." Edmond said, wiping his forehead a bit, having tread through the early night with a bag laden with magical crystals, he was thoroughly whooped, along with Harry and the Mayor. The mayor had left after dropping the bag off, allowing the two friends to deposit them all onto the couch.
"Thanks for that. This'll give me a great start on what I'm planning." Harry said, looking at the lacrimas with a mix of excited anticipation and dread. Edmond nodded, and then looked at Harry curiously.
"What exactly are you planning? To become Iron man or something?" Harry responded by glancing away for a moment before nodding. Edmond's jaw hung open a bit as the over-enchant mage said this, a bit stunned at the open admission.
"I mean, think about it, my magic allows me to enchant basically anything onto anything else, and I've already managed to make my own Mark 1. I don't really see why I can't just… keep going with that motif." Harry's reasoning made sense to Edmond, as he personally couldn't think of anyone within the canon that used armors extensively besides Erza, and even then, those types of armors were always very focused and often very gimmicky. Not that they weren't powerful, but he couldn't place an armor that was capable of doing everything that Tony Stark's was capable of doing.
"Yea, that makes sense. But won't that take some time?" He asked, and Harry rolled his eyes at the question.
"Of course it will. That's why I'm going to stay here and build my armor while you can go and join Fairy Tail. I know you want to." Harry replied, and Edmond seemed at a loss, definitely wanting to join fairy tail and become a part of canon and see what he could do to improve the outcomes of the arcs, but at the same time, he did not want to leave his friend by himself.
"But then you'll be by yourself, and I'm the one with all the foreknowledge here! I mean, at the least you could stay in magnolia for that time and then join the guild." Edmond defended, hoping he could at least convince his friend to come to magnolia. Harry shook his head, looking at his friend with a slightly mournful expression.
"Do you think magnolia has an abandoned house just lying around? Or that the guild master is going to let me stay in the guild's basement until I can finish my suit? I don't think so." Harry said, a sigh escaping his lips. "Listen Edmond, I want to learn how this world works before I go jumping into the deep end here, maybe you should too. Just because you have foreknowledge doesn't mean there aren't things that you've forgotten or that are different here. This isn't some show anymore man, its life for us." Harry's words seemed to strike a cord with Edmond, but Edmond also wasn't sure if Harry was completely right. He wouldn't know until he encounters a proper arc.
"Are you sure? I mean, we could always rent a place and room just like we did before we uh… died." Edmond offered, but once again Harry shook his head.
"Here I have plenty of room to work, and I won't be bothering you either. Trust me Edmond, I'll be fine." Harry said, attempting to reassure his friend. Edmond was reluctant, and paused for a few moments but nodded nonetheless, allowing his trust in his friend to outweigh his desire to keep him from getting hurt.
The next morning came peacefully, or at least as peacefully as one would expect with a dragonslayer breaking into your room.
"I said I was sorry." Natsu grumbled, half of his face swollen courtesy of Lucy when the pink-haired pyromaniac had burst into her room as she changed, shouting about how it was time to 'get up and grab some grub'. Happy patted Natsu's head in a manner to attempt to comfort the dragonslayer, but that only made Lucy more irritated.
"Would you two stop! How do you expect me to react when you break through a locked door while I change!" Lucy practically screamed, still doing up her hair.
"It was open though." Natsu defended, and Happy couldn't help but shake his head.
"Really Lucy, you shouldn't leave your door open, who knows who might come in and find you bathing or something." Happy scolded with a smug look, the celestial spirit mage promptly throwing a sandal at his face.
"Man, Lucy's extra violent today." Natsu said, watching as his blue-furred friend went flying to the wall from the sandal.
"I'm not extra violent, you two are being extra irritating!" Lucy exclaimed, thinking that it was far too early to be dealing with their antics at the moment. This was the first time that she had spent the night at an actual civilized place with the fire-breather, and was honestly not taking to his extremely naive ways. Once she was finally done, they left the inn and made their way to the town hall to meet with the mayor and collect their reward. It was a short walk, and on their way several people around the town waved and thanked them for their help, Lucy being rather happy about the praise. Natsu seemed to shrug it off, mostly focused on walking to the town hall.
Once they reached it, they found that the Mayor and Edmond were already there, apparently conversing, but once the two members of Fairy tail arrived, they shifted their attention to them. They were currently sitting by a large table left in the lobby, Edmond waved them over.
"Good morning to you two. I trust you had a good night?" the mayor asked, earning nods from the guild mages. "Excellent. So, I know i did not exactly entail the exact reward, but I believe I have come up with a substantial sum that you might agree on?" The mayor's question made Lucy and Natsu look at each other before they shrugged.
"Just tell us your offer I guess." Lucy offered, a nervous smile on her face. The mayor nodded, grabbing a small slip of paper from his pocket.
"Would 580,000 jewls be enough to compensate yo-" The mayor began, but was cut off as Lucy suddenly grabbed the slip from his hand.
"Yes! Most definitely!" Lucy exclaimed, Natsu's and Happy's jaw attempting to hit the floor in the process. Edmond blinked a few times, and after a few calculations, whistled aloud. Thats about 5,800 dollars right there. A bit low considering the risks in my opinion, but I doubt they're complaining. Edmond thought, watching as the mayor chuckled at their reactions. Natsu seemed to be the first of the two that recovered, and shot Edmond a happy grin.
"So Edmond, Did you decide on joining Fairy Tail?" He asked, his roguish grin indicating he wasn't just excited about having another member of the guild, but also having another sparring partner. Edmond hummed as he considered the question, and his mind went back to the night before, when he and Harry had discussed this very thing after moving all of the lacrimas. He said it was fine, but I still feel like I shouldn't just leave him here. He thought to himself, still unsure how he should answer. Eventually though, he made up his mind.
"Yes, and I'm coming with you." Emond said, a surprising amount of determination in his voice. "I think… that if I'm going to get stronger and master my abilities, I need to be a part of a guild to do so." He said, his reasoning being good enough for the two guild mages, Natsu's expression becoming much more lively.
"Hell yea!" Natsu exclaimed, a small burst of fire coming from his mouth. "You're going to love it there!" He said, a genuine smile on his face, giving the novice a thumbs up. Lucy sighed and repeated the sentiment as well, giving him an encouraging look. "There's just one thing I want in return." Natsu said, a slightly more predatory grin on his face. Lucy looked at him with slight curiosity and annoyance, while Edmond raised his eyebrow. "Once you join, I want to fight you, to see how strong your magic really is!" Edmond shouldn't have been surprised, but for some odd reason he was, and was incredibly anxious about fighting Natsu. However, this was also a chance to see if he could still take on a magical heavyweight.
"Count me in." Edmond said, matching Natsu's grin with his own, the two mages swiftly gaining a great sense of anticipation for when they return to the guild hall.
"Geez, do you always have to fight everyone that comes to the guild?" Lucy asked with unhidden exasperation, making Happy shrug from his place floating near her.
"That's Natsu for ya." Happy said, making the mayor laugh good-naturedly, and Edmond to chuckle, himself a bit nervous about the prospect of battling the 'protagonist' of Fairy Tail, but not willing to just give up on trying.
Fortunately for Edmond, he didn't have much in the way of belongings to gather to take to Magnolia with him. Or rather unfortunately, depending on how you look at it. This meant that when it was time for him to gather his things, he didn't have a whole lot of packing he needed to do. In fact, the only real belongings he had were the clothes he was wearing and the backpack he bought for his trip to Magnolia the first time.
"Hey now, don't hurt yourself." Harry said, pointing out Edmond's lightly packed gear.
"Only pack what you absolutely need," Edmond responded "I know for a fact that you need to take that seriously when traveling." He then recalled a certain S-class wizard's tendency to travel with...a lot more than one would need, to put it mildly. That thought made him chuckle quietly, imagining seeing that sight in person for real.
"Well, it's not like you've got a whole lot to your name right now." Harry responded with an oddly 'matter of fact' tone. "I mean hell, the only things you've technically got to your name right now are a dusty backpack and a tattered duster."
"Don't forget magic lapel brooch." Edmond interjected, the correction bringing to light an admittedly small elephant in the room.
"What do you suppose that thing's supposed to do?" Harry asked, now focused on the trinket on Edmond's person "Why even pick that one up specifically?"
Edmond shrugged, "I know this might sound weird, but when I found it, it felt almost like it was calling out to me, like it was somehow mine already and it knew."
Harry stared at the ground for a short moment then looked back at Edmond "I don't know. Given what kind of world we live in, I wouldn't consider something 'calling out to you' particularly trustworthy" Of course, Harry had a point, as usual. Edmond, again, as usual, didn't suspect that there was anything to worry about though.
"I'm certain if it was anything dangerous I would be able to tell pretty easily," He said, attempting to reassure Harry while patting the trinket on his lapel, which drew Harry's attention elsewhere.
Harry observed Edmond's duster that he had got a few days ago brand new, and how it looked as if it belonged to a war veteran "Also, wasn't that thing brand new as of a few days ago?" Harry asked, gesturing at Edmond's overwear.
Edmond looked down at his tattered coat. Harry was right, his coat had definitely seen better days. And yet "I don't know, I kinda like it somehow." He remarked "Kinda makes me look like some kind of grizzled old badass wizard dude." And after saying that, the image of yet another powerful mage shot through his mind, although he didn't expect he'd see that wizard for some time yet. "But you're right. Maybe I'll get a new one somewhere down the road."
"Didn't you pay a lot of money for that thing?" Harry asked, which made Edmond's stomach curl a bit.
"...yea" Harry rose an eyebrow, his inquisitive and rather scrutinizing gaze locked to Edmond's jacket.
"You do the same thing with all the nice things you own, you know that right?" Harry stated plainly, having witnessed his friend destroy, tear up, or overwork new clothes, vehicles, games, and the like in at least the first week of owning them.
"I don't! At least, not all the time." Edmond denied, a bit sheepishly at the end. Harry, deciding not to push the issue, moved on.
"Just don't go bankrupting yourself because of clothes." Harry said, Edmond nodding hesitantly, himself unsure if he would be able to help that. "Is there anything you'd like to tell me about the Canon Story that might be of importance?" Harry inquired, looking over the rather large pile of Lacrimas that he now owned, thinking of the best way to incorporate them into what he wanted.
"Not really, not until I know where exactly we are in the timeline." Edmond said plainly, watching as Harry nodded while still examining the Lacrimas.
"Makes sense I suppose, hopefully I'll be done with my next set of armor before long." Harry said, tapping one of the lacrimas, giving Edmond a positive look, Edmond mirroring it. "Its still kinda crazy isn't it? Living in a world of magic and guilds and… well, whatever other fantasy aspects this place might have." Harry asked, thinking back to before they had ever come to earthland, and how coming here was like a new, very strange, start for them.
"There are a few others, but the ones you mentioned are the biggest." Edmond added. "There are other things like… Demons." At this, Harry's eyes grew wide.
"Like… Biblical Demons or..?"
"Not quite, they're more just, beings that use darkness magic and are sometimes sentient. I can't remember if they specifically ever identified what made a demon a demon, but you'll know one if you see one. Some can be friendly so don't freak out." Edmond explained as best he could, Harry taking his friend's word for it, but hoping that he never encountered a 'Demon'
"Alright. I'll… keep that in mind." Harry said, wondering if the fact that demons existed in this world led to any other implications. We aren't in hell are we? Harry suddenly thought, the implication making his stomach churn before he realized that such a fact was impossible, as he had yet to be subjected to eternal torment.
"Well, i guess It's time to leave then…" Edmond said, hesitantly grabbing his bag, and heading towards the door.
"Good luck man, I'll see you later." Harry said casually, waving to his friend, who waved back, Edmond soon finding his feet out the door and onto the roads of Ginville, where he had agreed to meet Natsu, Lucy and Happy before they set off back to Magnolia. A certain excitement filled his chest as he thought about returning to Fairy Tail, meeting everyone there, and becoming an official member, the life he could have only dreamed of, now becoming a reality. And just like that, his worry for Harry was replaced by a giddy excitement.
"So Edmond, you excited about joining Fairy Tail?" The spiky-haired dragon slayer asked the lad in question. They had only started their journey back to magnolia several moments ago, and it was obvious the dragon slayer didn't intend on taking the long journey in silence.
"Am I ever, Natsu!" Edmond explained. He was practically jumping at this new development in his life, the guild and it's story an inspiration to him throughout many personal trials back in his old life. Both inspiring himself to be better, and to help anyone he could along the way. After all, it was what he always wanted to do.
"He does seem awfully chipper right now" Happy pointed out as Edmond practically skipped along the path, his tattered trench coat dropping what looked like ash dust from the fire damage strewn about it.
"You're going to love it Edmond." Lucy bragged "Fairy Tail's a great place. It feels just like one big family there!" Lucy herself was getting pretty excited with the idea of a new member joining the guild, despite her concerns about the Cosmic Mage. She had been wary, and was still largely curious about the mage, but seeing him in action firsthand had helped to put her mind at ease of any potential wrong she thought he might want to do.
"Totally! We've got good food, good fights, great company. What's not to love?" Natsu bragged again about the Fairy Tail family. Lucy chuckled nervously at that, hoping that Edmond wouldn't think Fairy Tail was obsessed with fighting, even if it was partially true.
Edmond couldn't contain his excitement anymore than he was already trying, And failing, to. "Just imagine how lucky I am," He began thinking "Just one little… car accident... and now I'm hanging out with two of the protagonists from one of my most favorite shows of all time." However, he suddenly slowed his pace as he thought of something that upset him.
"Hey, something wrong?" Natsu asked, noticing the slowed pace of Edmond.
"Oh nothing really." Edmond said. He was, of course, not telling the complete truth, as his concern for his friend didn't completely waver. Even if he was certain Harry would be fine on his own.
"If you're sure" Natsu said, shrugging, the dragon slayer rather easily dropping the subject. Lucy sighed, having a clue as to why Edmond had spaced out.
"Is it because your friend didn't come along?" Lucy asked sympathetically, to which Edmond froze up slightly. I figured as much. Lucy thought to herself, reading Edmond's body language easily. She wasn't sure how to feel about the situation really given she was a neutral party, which only made her feel awkward for pointing the cause of Edmond's unease.
"Why didn't he want to come again?" Happy asked, having forgotten exactly the reason the other mage hadn't joined their group.
"Because he doesn't think he's ready." Edmond answered quickly, the flying cat tilting his head in a doubting manner. "Its his choice really, so I'm Not going to pressure him or anything." Edmond said, which made Lucy smile at him cheerily.
"Thats a good thing Edmond." Lucy supported, Edmond glancing at her with a thankful smile. "Sounds to me that he's just still new to magic, and isn't comfortable with joining a guild. Maybe he isn't comfortable with meeting new people or something?" Lucy offered, still unsure, not really knowing Edmond's friend, and thus only offering what she could.
"He seemed pretty capable though." Happy muttered, remembering the armored mage that had helped Natsu and those kids from earlier. "Lucy must have scared him away."
"No I didn't you stupid cat!" Lucy exclaimed, swiping at the feline, but the blue furred cat merely flew higher out of reach.
"Does he always tease you like this?" Edmond asked, raising an eyebrow at them.
"Believe it or not, it used to be worse." Lucy deadpanned, making Edmond wince a bit, his mind wondering just how much the anime left out when it came to character interactions. I gotta remember, these are real people. There are bound to be countless small details and things that are never mentioned, or were never even thought of. Best not to think about it too much to myself, lest I go crazy. Remember Edmond, adventure and magic! Edmond thought, refocusing his thoughts as they continued, Clover town coming into view as the forest around them opened up. And thankfully, or un-thankfully in Natsu's case, the railroad was fixed.
Arriving back in magnolia and walking towards the guild hall for a second time, allowed him to take in the buildings, layout, and people of the town better, seeing how a few of them waved to Natsu and Lucy in recognition, while most simply glanced their way and carried on with their day. Despite Fairy Tail being perhaps one of the most recognizable guilds in Fiore, the residents of Magnolia seemed very comfortable with the members of Fairy Tail, used to their presence on a daily basis. He wondered what other kinds of people he could meet in the city that were never explored or mentioned, and what other details he could run across.
They neared the guild building, and seeing it a second time did not diminish its grandeur, Edmond slowing down to take in as many details as he could, now noticing there seemed to be a few patched pieces of the roof, and a few non-treated scuff and burn marks on the cobblestones just outside of the guild itself. Things he noticed that could never be replicated in animation or manga drawings, but instead only things that could exist in detailed paintings, writing, or of course, in the real world.
Lucy and Natsu had noticed his slow pace, quickly tracking their new companion's eyes as he scanned the guild building, smiling in slight pride that he was so enamored with it. While Lcuy was content to let him stare, Natsu only saw this as more of an excuse for him to get through the doors.
"C'mon! Times a wastin'!" Natsu exclaimed excitedly, rushing behind Edmond before he could react and began pushing him towards the guild doors. Lucy giggled as Edmond struggled, the strength of the dragonslayer proved too great as he was shoved through the doors.
Rather than a rambunctious guild or straight up bar fight, everything seemed to be relatively calm as Edmond looked over the interior. He quickly spotted nearly every named member of the guild.
The first member he spotted was Elfman Strauss, the large, white-haired man sticking out within the building like a sore thumb. He was easily the tallest in the guild, standing nearly 6'6 easily. His skin was a tan color, clearly a result of the sun rather than a natural skin tone, and his left eye had a large stitch scar that ran from his eye into his hairline. Sitting across from him at the table he was at, was the infamous brunette, Cana Alberona, along with a literal barrel of what Edmond could only assume was beer, and wearing nothing but a thick Blue bikini top(barely containing what was within) with red loose pants that only went down to her knees. Elfman seemed to be saying something to her, but the idle chatter of the rest of the guild drowned it out.
The next person he spotted was of course Mirajane, wearing the same dress he had seen her in the first time he arrived in the guild, her stark white hair pointing to her identity despite the fact her back was currently turned away from them, cleaning by a sink. Sitting on the counter she was behind, however, was the dictionary definition of 'dwarf jester'. The guild master of Fairy Tail was currently reading a magazine with the title 'sorcerer weekly', his smiley face staff tucked into his arm as he sat and read. Edmond had not seen Makarov's original design in years since he first started watching the show, and felt genuinely surprised at seeing him in the getup. That didn't stop him from noticing that a certain armored redhead was sitting next to him, a fork in her mouth as Erza Scarlet enjoyed some strawberry cake. Edmond gulped nervously, as even if he wasn't even a part of the guild, and had done the woman no wrong, there was a certain primal fear he got from looking at her. Nothing overwhelming, but it made him cautious.
He spotted all of team shadowgear at a separate table, Levy McGarden studying a book intently, her blue hair and small stature making her easily recognizable, as well as the two goofballs that followed her around constantly, both chowing down on plates of food. Jet and Droy looked just as Edmond thought they would, completely over their heads and overconfident. He scanned to see if he could spot Gajeel considering he would later join the guild, but then remembered the guildhall's state, and notably the fact that it wasn't a wreck or being rebuilt.
As he scanned the hall briefly, he spotted a few more familiar faces, that of Macao Conbolt and Wakaba Mine. Although he was a little surprised at seeing Macao, as it had been some time since Edmond saw him without his mustache that he had forgotten he never had one. Wakaba, on the other hand, didn't seem that much different despite just looking a few years younger.
Based on what I can see here though, Edmond started thinking to himself, we can't be that far into the actual storyline. This is the very first guild hall introduced in the show, which must mean-
"There you are." Edmond's thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice coming from right beside them at the doorway. He was all too familiar with it as well. "About time you got back ash-for-brains." Natsu took particular offence to this, and immediately got into the ice mage's face
Edmond had been curious as to the whereabouts of Gray since he arrived at the guild the first time. It wasn't often he wasn't on one of the jobs himself. He was a rather lean, but still muscular looking man, having already lost his shirt somewhere, but mercifully still wearing a pair loose black pants, displaying the black guild mark on his upper chest. He had dark hair and eyes, and his face was currently contorted into a slight scowl as Natsu approached. "Oh yea? And what've you been doing this whole time, blizzard breath, because I've been out kicking butt!" Natsu retorted with a triumphant grin, Lcuy sighing tiredly.
"Yea? Well you certainly took your time with it then, because it sure took you long enough." As they argued back and forth, Edmond watched them butt heads with each other, remembering several encounters like this from the show. Of course, he wanted it to seem as though he wasn't familiar with this, so he leaned over to Lucy slowly to ask her a question "Are they always like this?" He asked the blond, who sighed loudly.
"Usually." Lucy sighed "It's actually kind of funny. There are rare occasions where they actually seem like good buddies, but this is definitely something you'll have to get used to." Happy added a helpful, but also tired 'aye.' to Lcuy's statement.
Edmond chuckled internally a little at that. He remembered in the anime how often they would argue and get at each other's throats, but yet seem like close pals at times. But he then remembered something very important "Oh wait, don't you guys need to go turn in that job?"
Lucy's eyes then went wide as she remembered, frustrated that Natsu and Gray's fight distracted them from the important stuff "We need to go see Mira right away." She added, then made way for the bar where Mira was working.
As they approached, Edmond noticed Makarov sitting contently. He was curious if the guild leader had already noticed his presence in the guild hall, or if Edmond hadn't made himself very present. Something he felt very familiar with back home. Shaking his mind of memories threatening to come up, Edmond strode forward with the busty blonde.
"Ah. Lucy, you and Natsu are back." Makarov greeted, casually flipping through the pages of the magazine, glancing over at the pink-haired boy who was still bickering with his rival. "I understand that the quest was verbal only, while not exactly a smiled upon form of giving jobs, its still valid, now if you would, give me your report, I'll take care of it this time Mira." Makarov's last statement was given to the barmaid behind him, who smiled appreciatively. Lucy nodded, handing him a piece of paper that detailed the reward, the reward money itself, and verbally told Makarov of how the quest went. Edmond remained silent, but whenever he was mentioned and Makarov would look at him, he would often try his best to nod or reinforce what Lucy was saying. Natsu and Gray eventually came up behind Edmond and Lucy, Natsu and Happy adding their two cents as hey described the fight with Erigor and the subsequent rescue of Harry. Erza was also listening, but was content to just listening.
"Well. Normally I would be a little cross about taking a job so carelessly, but given the nature, the fact that you have all returned safely, and the appropriate reward… I'll let it slide." Makaroiv said, pocketing the paper, and the small percentage that the guild took from every completed job. "Now… What about you young man? You were the one that gave the quest, even if indirectly, so why are you here?" Makarov asked, turning his attention to Edmond, upon doing so, the cosmic mage could feel the eyes of those around him upon him. Even Erza had turned an inquisitive gaze at him. Edmodn couldn't help but freeze up, suddenly having the spotlight on him.
"Uh… I'd like… I'd…" Edmond struggled, his nervousness growing as he felt blood rush to his face, being surrounded by such legendary characters definitely making explaining himself difficult. He looked to Lucy, who recognized his nervousness, and was about to help him, herself not having so much attention on her when she first joined. Thankfully, Natsu was there to his rescue.
"He wants to join Fairy Tail!" Natsu said, wrapping a friendly hug around Edmond's shoulder, giving Makarov a winning smile. Any previous curious or scrutinizing gazes were practically gone in that same instance, with Makarov imitating Natsu's smile.
"Well why didn't you say so first?" Makarov said with a slight laugh as Edmond deflated, feeling like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
"S-Sorry, I get a little nervous sometimes." Edmond explained, with Makarov laughing a bit. Erza smiled softly as she finished her cake, with Gray giving a small chuckle as well. Lucy gave Edmond a supporting smile as Mira came over with a small stamp-like device.
"I had a feeling that you'd be coming back." Mira said with a knowing smile, the white-haired beauty presenting the device. "This will imprint a magical guild symbol onto your skin, and will identify yourself as a Fairy Tail Mage, do you have an idea of where you want it?" She asked curiously, and Emdond already knowing how it worked, had been thinking about the location for some time now.
Edmond thought for a moment, wondering where a good spot might be. "Between the shoulderblades." He said, and he took off his duster and shirt to let Mira apply the mark, which she did promptly.
"So, what kind of magic do you use?" Gray asked, watching Edmond get his new guild mark. Edmond nodded and held out his hand where wisps of cosmic energy danced, before creating a small knife in his hand. Gray's eyes widened, as even though he had never witnessed this magic before, he could tell what kind of magic it was.
"It's called cosmic make, I only recently started working with it, but so far, I think I've done pretty good so far." Edmond stated, Gray humming as he watched the knife dissipate into nothingness. Natsu then gave Edmond a wicked grin, and while he hadn't actually interacted with him for long, he knew what that look meant.
"Yea, but I think we should all see it in action!" Nastu declared loudly, causing a majority of the guild members to look towards their pyromaniac friend. "You told me you would fight me when we got to Fairy Tail, and now you're a member." Gray sighed, also knowing what this meant. "So C'mon, lets fight!" Edmond knew this would most likely not end in his favor, but he honestly wanted to test his strength against the dragon slayer, and so he adopted a confident grin to match Natsu's.
"Yes I did promise you a fight, and since I'm a part of the guild, there's no reason for me to not partake… Let's do this." Edmond said, allowing a few sips of magical energy to escape from his legs and feet, giving him a slight dramatic flare in the same way that embers seemed to form around Natsu. The two of them raring to test their strength.
"Here we go again." Lucy said with a sigh. Happy shrugging at the unnecessarily dramatic display.
Author's notes:
Welp… another one! Finally… but with life finally getting a little more normal, we have managed to release yet another chapter of this tale. We are definitely continuing this story, but unfortunately life often gets in the way. Hoping the next one doesn't take as long.
Now that Edmond has joined Fairy Tail, you can expect the adventures to pick up a little, with the next arc being Phantom Lord. Harry will eventually join, and will be there for the next arc, but to keep with his character, we're keeping him separate until the arc begins. Won't be long, but yea. Anyways! I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, and I will let my co-author take over the rest of the notes.
Hey guys, Black_Hawk931 again!
Super stoked to finally be wrapping up the first arc of this story, and I'm definitely excited for what we have in store. With the introductory storyline out of the way, I feel like we can now get to the stuff I think will be really exciting!
Anyways, I hope that you all are enjoying this story as much as I am writing it with Strongraider. Be sure to let us know your thoughts in a review. It seriously helps us out, and if nothing else we love reading all your feedback and thoughts. Anyway, looking forward to the future of this story. Stay safe, and as always…
Thanks for reading!